Gilded
by lowlaury
Summary: AU. Jadelyn West has everything a 17-year old girl could ask for - except for freedom. But when she meets a boy named Beck, her life is about to change. A modern fairytale inspired by Rapunzel. It's all BADE, lovelies. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**So I watched _Tangled_ today for like the hundredth time, and this idea popped into my mind. I know the plot might be a little far-fetched, but I like the idea of a modern Bade-fairytale :) This is my first attempt at an AU btw.**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like Dan Schneider? I don't think so.**

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><p>"<em>I don't know if this is a good idea, Jadelyn."<em>

The black-haired girl groans audibly, throwing back her head in annoyance. Then she faces her Pearbook again, glaring at the screen from which her father is watching her impatiently. He's busy as always, and not even today he can take more than a 5-minute break to speak to his daughter. Who happens to be at the other end of the world. "So can I or can't I?"

"_No,"_ Mr West says sternly and checks his Rolex watch. He's probably calculating how much money he loses every minute he wastes talking to her.

"It's my _seventeenth_ birthday, Dad. Don't you think it's about time that I leave this damn mansion? Just for a few hours?"

"_You can go spend some time in the garden. We had it renewed just last year, it should be good enough."_

"I don't want the fucking garden," she hisses. "I know every freaking inch of it."

"_Language, Jadelyn!"_

Jade rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

"_Look, Jadelyn, I have an important meeting in a few hours that I have to get ready for. Just behave, please, and don't do anything stupid."_ he says while fixing his silken tie, that probably cost as much as a small car. _"I'll make sure to send you a nice new necklace or something. And happy birthday."_ With that he signs off and leaves Jade to herself again.

She slams her Pearbook shut and within the next two seconds it crashes into the perfect white wall to her right and splinters into more pieces than a laptop should have. But that doesn't matter anyway, because she has at least three other Pearbooks in one of her rooms. Or she could just order a new one. (Not that her father would notice anyway.)

"Fucking wonderful," she mutters and angrily pushes herself up from her chair.

The noise of her breaking laptop must have alarmed the housekeeper, Judy, and Jade sighs as the door to the living room, where the 'incident' had happened, slides open. "Is everything alright, sweetie?" Judy asks sweetly, looking a little concerned.

"No," Jade grumbles and kicks her broken Pearbook so that it slides across the floor, leaving a trail of mechanic dust on it. She likes Judy, she really does, (which isn't surprising, though, because she has been there all her life while her parents weren't), but she knows that Judy isn't much of a help when it comes to her problem. "Dad won't let me spend my birthday elsewhere."

"Oh honey," Judy says soothingly and pats her back. "You know how he is." _And I can't help you, either, so just deal with the fact that you're trapped in your own house_, Jade bitterly adds in her head.

"It should be a freaking crime," she says and stomps across the room. "To keep me here like this. It is _not_ okay."

"I know, sweetie, I know. But there isn't really anything we can do about that, is there?" Judy gives her a weak smile.

"Forget everything," Jade groans and strides past Judy, out of the gigantic living room and up the marble staircase to her room, which isn't exactly small, either. She flops onto her puffy bed, running a hand through her black hair, careful not to accidentally pull out one of her blue streaks. Her eyes fall upon the window, the garden with its flowers and pools and trees and the huge wall surrounding it and shutting her off from the whole outside world, when a whole new thought crosses her mind. Maybe, if she tried really hard... Maybe she could take herself off, break out, maybe just for a day or two, then come back. Judy wouldn't tell her dad. And he's far away in Thailand. Or China. Something like that, she believes. As she observes a mockingbird jumping around in the big tree in front of her window, a plan forms in her head.

She can easily reach some of the bigger branches from her window and luckily, the tree is wide enough to reach the outer wall as well. Jade gets up from her bed and steps forward to the window to get a better view. It's a Friday, so there shouldn't be any gardeners lingering around today. The house is empty except for Judy and her, and the property is so big that it's almost impossible for them to coincidentally be at the same place at the same time.

Before she has even finished the thought, her body somehow manages to act without her brain's approval and she's climbing on one of the branches, careful not to accidentally slip and fall down the 10 feet to the hard ground. Her father wouldn't be pleased to have to take her to a hospital. Or more like, he'd be _furious_.

She makes it to the wall and carefully sits down on it. "So far, so good," she says smiling, then lets her glance wander down the plastered wall. It's a long fall, and she's positive that she'd at least break a leg trying to jump off it, if not more than that. But there's no other way to escape.

She's pondering over the chances of her getting to the ground alive, as a voice jolts her out of her thoughts. "What are you doing up there?"

She jerks at the unexpected noise. _That's it_, she thinks. _I didn't even make it out of our property and they already caught me._

She slowly turns her head into the direction the voice was coming from, and spots a dark-haired boy who must be about her age staring up to her. He's wearing a yellow flannel shirt and worn-out blue jeans and it's impossible for her to read his expression. She snaps out of her temporary bewilderment and finds back to her Jade-like, strong self.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Taming lions?" she snaps.

He grins. "Well, it certainly looks as dangerous as that."

They stare at each other for a brief moment, before the boy speaks again. "I'm Beck."

"Jade," she replies.

"So, Jade," he says casually. "Any reason for you to sit on dangerously high walls like that?"

"Yes," is her blunt response. "I'm trying to get out."

"Get out of what?"

"My house."

He raises is eyebrows. "_This _is your house?" He points at the wall, because the height of it is making it impossible to even catch a glimpse of the mansion itself. But he can probably tell that no simple house would be hidden behind those massive safeguards.

"Yup."

"And you wanna get out."

"Yup."

"May I ask why?" he asks confused.

She sighs. She could tell him the long and dramatic story of the overprotected child now, or she could just keep it simple to avoid further questions. "Because it's my birthday and my dad won't let me go out."

"Really? That's not nice," he says. "Oh, and happy birthday."

"Yeah, whatever." She rolls her eyes. Then she realizes that she could just as well make use of this boy, now that he's here. "Hey, would you help me to get off this wall?"

"I would," he says. "But how am I supposed to do that? That thing's like ten feet high."

"You don't say," she taunts.

"Can't you just talk to your dad again? Maybe he'll rather let you out than have you breaking your neck while climbing off that wall."

"Yeah, I doubt it," she says. "And he's in Japan. Or Malaysia. Or something."

"Oh," Beck replies. "He's not home for your birthday?"

"No. Now will you help me or not?" she asks impatiently.

He thinks for a moment. "I can't right now, because my mom sent me to buy some things but... maybe I could come back in two hours," he eventually says.

Jade's face lightens. "Really?"

"Yeah, why not?" he smiles up to her.

"Alright," she says and vaults one of her legs over the edge of the wall, back on the inside. "I'll be waiting. Two hours. You better show up."

He grins. "I'll be there."

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><p><strong>Sooo, what do you think? Is this worth continuing or not? It's up to you guys.<br>And I know that this might still be a little confusing at some points, but don't worry, you'll get to know further particulars as the story goes on. (That is, if I do in fact continue it.)**

**Oh yeah, I should probably add that I suck at multi-chapters, or rather at updating them regularly. But you probably know that if you have read any of my other stories. I still thought that I might give this a shot.**

**And I'm sorry if there are many mistakes in this. It's like 2:30am and I'm not really capable of using proper English at this time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Since people actually don't think I'm insane for writing this story, and even seem to like it, I will continue :) And I'm also having a lot of fun with this. So here you go, chapter 2!**

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><p>It's 5pm and Jade is strolling about the big mansion, picking up various things on her way, and stacking them on top of the pile of bottles and clothes in her arms. Every now and then she drops a piece of clothing or spills some of the liquid of one of the bottles on the floor. She is not happy about giving Judy so much more work additional to all of the stuff she already has to do, but today is special and she definitely needs to keep her busy tonight, at least for a while. And messing up the house is the only thing she could think of.<p>

Sighing, she drops the last shirt in some corner and makes sure to whip off some soil from one of the big flower pots located on the left and right sides of the corridor while doing so. This should do.

She wipes her hands off on her black jeans and pulls out her phone to check the time. It's been an hour since she sat on top of the wall, that had been her cage her whole life, for the first time. An hour since she met Beck. An hour since for the first time in her entire life, she had felt a sprinkle of true hope permeating through her heart. It has never felt this real, this _possible_ before. Maybe today is the day.

And all of this just because of some stranger she just met barely an hour ago. As she slowly makes her way back through the long corridors of the mansion, she realizes that she doesn't even know his last name. And 'Beck' is probably just a nickname too. She knows absolutely nothing about him, except that he has gorgeous hair. Will he even show up? Maybe all of her efforts and excitement were for nothing.

Then again, he doesn't know anything about her, either. And Jade is also just her nickname. And still he promised that he'd help her get out of her gilded cage without asking any unnecessary questions, regardless of her past or looks or attitude, and something lay in his smile that made her believe every word he said. And it's not like she has anything to lose, anyway. He'll either show up or not; if he does, she might finally be able to walk around on her own, be free for once, and if he doesn't... well, then nothing would change really. Except for her faith in humanity maybe, that already is quite small.

The wooden door opens noiselessly and she slides into her large room, carefully shutting the door behind her. Her glance is fixed on the window as she approaches her bed, and she wonders if all of this is a good idea after all. But she decides that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance and that there is no turning back. It's now or never.

Jade spends the next hour packing up a few things and preparing everything for her (temporary) getaway. It's not like she expects to escape the firm grip of her father forever - she's not one to build up false hopes - but for now she's perfectly fine with the thought of just a few hours of freedom. She sits down in front of her dressing table and pulls out one of the drawers, revealing a black jewelry box decorated in little rhinestones. One of the many gifts of her father, but one of the few she actually likes. Beneath some bracelets and rings she finds what she was looking for - a one-hundred dollar bill. You would expect a spoiled child like her to wallow in money, but she has actually never had any except for this one bill, simply because she had never needed it. If she wanted something, she would ask her Dad to order it for her and she'd get it. No money needed. When she was 14 she found this one-hundred dollar bill stuck between some of her fresh clothes (it probably fell out of one of her father's jackets), and has kept it ever since, knowing that she would need it one day. And today is this day.

She takes the money and stuffs it in one of her handbags. It is only now that she starts wondering why she even has handbags, because she has never actually gotten a chance to use them. Now that she thinks about it, she owns quite a lot of things that are of no use to her, because why would someone who never leaves the house need all these nice shoes or coats or purses? Her lips pressed together to a thin line, she rifles through her closet and pulls out a thin jacket. She isn't sure, but she thinks she might need it.

Eventually, she takes a few pillows and shoves them under the blanket in her bed, forming something that might be mistaken for her body when it's dark. She checks her watch and decides that it's time.

Jade shuts the thick purple curtains in front of her window, then slips behind them, careful not to accidentally pull them open again. She opens the window and takes a deep breath before climbing out. It's almost 6pm. Beck promised he would come, and even though she doesn't like admitting it, she's afraid that he might not.

She sits down on the exact same spot where she had sat two hours ago, and glances down. Beck is not there, and it feels like her heart drops down those ten feet and hits the ground. Hard.

Her watch tells her that he still has ten minutes left to show up and she tries to pull herself together. _He promised_, she reminds herself. She might not even know anything about him at all, but he _promised_ and even though her father pretty much never keeps his promises and she grew up learning that they mean next to nothing, something inside of her is telling her to believe this boy.

The blue sky is slowly fading to a warm red as the sun gets ready to go down, and a chilly breeze is sweeping across the streets. Jade slips in her black jacket, wrapping the thin fabric tightly around her. The numbers on her phone change to 6:00, and her hope is slowly shrinking as the radiant sun disappears behind the horizon. _He won't come. He lied. Liar._

And suddenly, he's there. She sees him rushing down the street, coming closer and closer until he's right beneath her, a ladder clutched under his arm. He beams up to her. "Hey."

"About time," she snaps, but is unable to stifle the smile that forms on her lips._ He's really here._

"So, you still wanna get out?" he asks.

She rolls her eyes. "What does it look like?"

"Charming as ever," he sighs jokingly.

"We've barely known each other for two hours, don't act like you know me," she hisses. Then her expression softens. "But I'm glad you're here," she admits quietly, yet loud enough for him to hear, and he smiles.

"Let's get you down from there now, shall we?" He extends the ladder he carried all the way from his home to hers, and places it on the wall.

"Wow, that's so inconspicuous," she deadpans.

"Hey, no complaining," he objects, and climbs up the first steps of the ladder to see if it's stable. "Okay, it's a little too short, but you should be able to reach it anyway."

"You'll be in soo much trouble if I fall," she says, stretching the o.

He grins. "Don't worry, I'll catch you."

She glares at him. "Careful, Mr Player." Slowly, she turns around and lets one of her legs slide down, then the other, trying to find the ladder. She's dangling backwards from the wall now, if she lets go of it, she'll fall. But even if she did, it would have been worth it, she thinks.

"Just a bit more," Beck says. "You're almost there."

"Easier said than done!" Jade grinds her teeth as she loosens her grip on the wall, causing her to slide further down. What if someone sees her. If they _catch_ her. She doesn't even want to think about it. She forces herself to hurry up, because she really can't risk being seen. And right now, she's more than exposed, noticeably dangling from a white wall.

Finally, her feet are touching the brazen ladder and lets herself fall. She quickly takes the steps down, until she's standing in front of Beck. From close up, she notices for the first time how good-looking he is. Smashing, actually, with his slightly messy hair and light-brown skin that reminds her of coffee. They both stare at each other for a short moment, and it's awkwardly silent.

Then Jade starts glancing around, realizing that she's on the sidewalk, on the other side, not behind those walls, and her stomach starts tingling. Because for the first time in her life, she's _free_.

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><p><strong> wishiwasjessiesgirl: Haha! I do watch Glee (or did, before it started getting stupid with the engagement and all), and your review made me laugh :)<strong>

**I'd be really thankful if you could take 30 seconds of your time now to hit that review button down there and leave me a few words on what you think. I swear, it will make my day.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I meant to update sooner, but I got distracted a lot and yadda yadda. I'm not happy with this chapter, but it's better than nothing, I guess...**_  
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><p><em>She's free. <em>There are no servants keeping an eye on her, no father telling her what to do and what not, no walls keeping her from going to wherever she wants to go. There are so many possibilities that she's almost scared. Scared to go wrong and scared of this outside world, because she has never been here before and everything seems so big and suddenly she feels lost and alone.

Beck clears his throat and jolts her out of her awe. Turning her head to him slowly, she remembers that she's not alone. At least not right now.

"So... what do you wanna do now?" Beck asks.

Jade thinks about it for a moment, biting her lip. "I don't know," she eventually admits. "What are the options?"

"Well... for starters we could try to hide that ladder. It does look a bit conspicuous," he says, grabbing the ladder and retracting it, so that it's only a third of the size it was before. Then he glances around, looking for a good place to store it.

"Yeah, I won't be much help on that."

He furrows his eyebrows. "Why not? Its your neighborhood."

She rolls her eyes and sighs. "I told you that my dad won't let me out."

Beck narrows his eyes a little, uncertain if she is joking or not. Jade's face remains stern, no matter how long he stares at her. Still, he decides that she _can't _be serious, because _come on_ – that is way too crazy to believe. So he lets it pass without comment and continues looking for a place to put the ladder. On the other side of the street he spots a 'Wet paint!' sign. "Perfect," he says and is already on his way across the street, where he carefully places the ladder under the sign so that it looks like whoever painted the wall had used it.

Eventually, he returns to Jade, who is still standing in front of her home, looking like a lost puppy. "Okay," Beck says. "Now what?"

"You decide," Jade commands. "But let's get away from here before someone sees us," she adds, glancing around nervously. She has come so far, farther than ever before, and she doesn't want to ruin it by lingering around her loathsome cage for too long. Her heart is pounding so fast that it feels like she can actually hear it and her body is filled with adrenaline. Every piece of her is screaming to run.

"Alright," Beck says. "Are you hungry? We could go eat something. I know a place that-"

"Sounds great, let's go," she interrupts him grabbing his arm and dragging him away, before she realizes that she actually has no idea where they are going, and stops dead in her tracks. She glances at him and awkwardly clears her throat while letting his arm fall. "You take the lead."

He chuckles and points in the opposite direction of where they were going. "It's that way."

"_Fine_," she hisses, trying to play it cool, but her cheeks are colored in a light red that stands out from her pale skin.

He motions her to follow him. "Let's not waste any time."

The two teenagers follow the street silently, as the sky is slowly darkening, as far as it's possible. It never gets completely dark in L.A., the city lights will make sure to keep an orange touch on the sky at all times. While they are walking, Jade is constantly turning her head left and right, admiring the buildings and shops, and also the little things like streetlights or mailboxes, almost as if she was trying to absorb every detail of her surroundings, afraid that they might fade if she didn't try hard enough. Beck doesn't quite understand her weird behavior, but then again, what part of the Jade he had gotten to know so far had been normal?

Soon they're standing in front of a small white building, with windows so big that you can barely see any of its frontage. _George's Diner_ it reads in bright red letters that are installed on the roof. There's also a lot of red inside, Jade notices while gazing through the windows curiously, and there aren't that many people there.

"It's not exactly a five-star restaurant," Beck says apologetically, but Jade is already pushing open the glass door and walks inside. Beck follows her and watches her half amused, half confused, as she looks around with gleaming eyes, like a child that has just found the toy section of a store.

He lets her pick a table and she settles for one at the back next to one of the windows and slides into the cushy red seat. He sits down across from her and starts studying the menu. Jade observes him for a while, unsure what to do. Eventually she decides to simply copy every of Beck's moves and grabs a menu herself. After a while, Beck looks at her.

"Did you decide on what you want already?" he asks.

She hesitates for a split second before answering. "What do you want?"

"I think I'll have some french fries."

"I'll take the same," she says and closes her menu, putting it back into the holder in the middle of the table.

Beck shrugs and motions to the waitress, who walks over and takes their order. Then they're alone again, and neither has any idea of what to say, now that they can't keep themselves busy with the menu anymore.

"So..." Beck says. "Do you want to tell me why exactly your dad wouldn't let you out tonight?"

"_Tonight_," she snorts.

Knitting his eyebrows, Beck gives her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Jade isn't sure if she is ready to tell her life story to this stranger already, but then again, after tonight she'll probably never see him again. So she decides that Beck at least deserves some more details, as she sorta kinda owes him now. "It's more like all my life," she says.

"All your life what?" Beck asks, still confused.

"My dad hasn't let me out all my life."

He stares at her as if she was some sort of tropical animal that he has never before seen in his life. "You... what?"

She rolls her eyes. "You heard me."

"Do you mean you've never _ever_ been outside your house before?"

"Never _ever_," she mimics, slightly irritated now.

Beck shakes his head. Suddenly her behavior starts to make sense to him, all of those little details of how she admired the most usual things morphing into one big picture that he is finally able to understand. And as insane as her story sounds, something still makes him believe her. "But... how? This sounds crazy."

"It is," she says. "But helping a girl you don't even know escape from her own home isn't that normal, either, is it?"

He smiles. "Still more normal than your story."

The waitress brings their food, placing the two plates on the table between them, and leaves again. Jade stares at the pile of sliced and fried potatoes in front of her, before hesitantly picking one up and taking a bite. It tastes good. Better than she had expected. Way better. Then her expression goes stern. "Seriously now," she says, looking Beck straight in the eye. "Why did you help me?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I mean, why not? It's an adventure." He gives her a smile and she can't help but smile back. "So why won't your dad let you out?" As he speaks, he casually picks up two or three fries at once and pops them into his mouth.

Jade drops her gaze onto her plate, obviously getting uncomfortable. But being the snappy girl she is, she answers anyway, because _no one_ makes Jade West speechless. "That's none of your business," she says and flips her hair over her shoulder.

"Hey, show a little more respect for your knight in shining armor," he grins, earning a glare.

Jade tightens her grip around her fork and points it at him, never breaking eye contact. "Don't – and I mean _don't_," she hisses. "go around thinking I owe you forever now."

Beck lifts up his hands in surrender. "Chill, I was kidding. If you don't wanna tell me, that's okay."

"Good," she says.

They finish their food in silence, Beck beckons the waitress over and pays for both of them. Jade watches him with a stern expression, but doesn't object. "Thanks," she mumbles as they walk back outside in the chilly night air.

"For what?" he asks.

"Everything."

"Aww."

"_Don't_," she warns, pointing a finger at him. "Or I'll take it back."

Beck pouts a little. "Fine."

They start walking in what seems to be a random direction, because neither of them really knows where they are heading. "I guess I should go back home," Jade says after a while. "Before they notice that I'm gone."

"It's barely been two hours."

"I know."

"Do you really wanna go back already?"

"I have to." She turns to look at him. "Why? Don't you want me to?"

He kicks a little stone, his eyes following its way over the asphalt. His hands are buried deep in his pockets. "I like spending time with you."

"We barely know each other."

Suddenly, he lifts his head and stares at her with a serious expression on his face. "We can change that, you know."

At first she just starts grinning, but then she bursts into laughter. Genuine laughter. She can't remember the last time she laughed like that. Was there a last time? He watches her, furrowing his eyebrows, looking both confused and butthurt. "What?"

"It's just," she laughs. "This severe look combined with such a cheesy thing to say. Priceless."

He crosses his arms like a sulky child. "Very funny." She eventually stops laughing and they continue their way back to her house. "I meant what I said," Beck says when they arrive at the spot he first met her. He grabs the ladder and places it against the wall again.

Jade starts playing with one of her bracelets, avoiding eye contact. "You mean we could... do this again?"

He nods. "Anytime. Here, give me your phone."

Without thinking twice, she hands it to him, even though she isn't sure what he is planning. He starts typing something very quickly, before giving it back to her. "Now you've got my number. Call me whenever you feel like breaking out again," he smirks.

She can't help but smile back at him. "Thanks," she says and leans in to give him a small kiss on the cheek, before starting to climb up the ladder. "See you, Beck," she smiles and vanishes behind the big white wall.

Beck remains in the same position for a while, only moving to bring up a hand to his cheek where her lips had touched him. He smiles to himself, as he grabs the ladder and starts his way back home.

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><p><strong>Reviews make me happy :)<strong>


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